The latest issue of the Chesapeake Crossroads Newsletter, New Directions, is out!

This issue covers this year’s MHAA funding to our heritage area partners, our activities of the summer, and some information about our ongoing plans.

Download the newsletter here: Summer 2022 Newsletter.

Thanks!

Celebrate history, heritage and excellence as the Chesapeake Crossroads Heritage Area celebrates its Nineteenth Annual Heritage Awards! These awards recognize individuals, organizations, programs and achievements that contribute to our community by interpreting, promoting, preserving, researching and/or supporting our historical legacy.

The event will be held on Thursday, November 10th at 5 p.m., in the Blue Heron Room at Quiet Waters Park. Tickets are $10 per person at Eventbrite or at the door. Light refreshments will be served. Please join us as we gather again to reconnect and celebrate this year’s outstanding honorees!

If you would like to purchase a ticket in advance through Eventbrite, please use this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chesapeake-crossroads-nineteenth-annual-heritage-awards-tickets-434087014947

We look forward to seeing you as we celebrate our Nineteenth Annual Heritage Awards on November 10!

Just 20 miles outside of Annapolis is a natural oasis. This hidden gem invites you to take a step outside of your everyday life, and enjoy everything nature has to offer!

Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary was established in 1985 and is located within the tidal reaches of the Patuxent River. Encompassing 1,700 acres of protected land, Jug Bay offers freshwater marshes, forested wetlands, creeks and so much more. Due to its vast ecosystems, you will find a wide diversity of animals, including mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, and many others.

Read more at A Fresh Take: Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary

On Tuesday November 1, 2022, County Executive Steuart Pittman, Mayor Gavin Buckley, and the Annapolis Port Marker Committee invite you to unveil the Annapolis Port Marker designating Annapolis, Maryland at a “Site of Memory” in coordination with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Slave Route Project.

Annapolis, Maryland, Anne Arundel County will join 43 sites in the United States accepting their participation in the Transatlantic Slave Trade. These sites also recognize two (2) million captured Africans whose bones leave a trail of resistance across the Atlantic Ocean refusing to live in bondage.

The Celebration begins at Asbury United Methodist Church at 11am ending at Susan Campbell Park at the City Dock with Libation, Ceremonial Roses, and the unveiling of our story.

Transportation from Asbury Church to Susan Campbell is provided to all participants. Your prompt RSVP assures your seat on the BUS to Part II of the event.

The Port Marker Ceremony will honor first families of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, The Anne Arundel County Board of Education is participating as well as numerous members and organizations in the community.

The Elders and Centenarians of “First Families” of African descent are encouraged to join us and to share your stories for your families and the community. Please contact Thornell Jones at thornell.jones@gmail.com or Bernadette Pruitt at myarnoldheritage@gmail.com

Saturday, October 15

2:00-5:00 pm

Chesapeake Children's Museum

25 Silopanna Road, Annapolis

Harvest Hootenanny is an annual festival held outside in the park at the Chesapeake Children's Museum. Family-friendly festivities including Activities, Music, Meet the Animals & More!

Cost: $8 (museum admission included), FREE for CCM Members.

Learn more about Harvest Hootenanny!

Thursday, October 13

1:00 pm

Organization: Maryland State Archives & Enoch Pratt Free Library

Join special collections managers Maria Day and Megan Craynon for a look into their project to increase visibility of Indigenous people in the Maryland State Archives’ government records. This talk will highlight new web resources about the history of Tribal peoples in the Chesapeake Bay region that are debuting to the public. This event is free to attend.

View login information for Researching Indigenous People in the Collections of the Maryland State Archives.

Thursday, October 13 – Friday, October 14 – Saturday, October 15

7:30-9:10 pm

Meet at the Market House Park

25 Market Space, Annapolis

Looking for ghost tours in Maryland? On Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays during the month of October, Annapolis Tours by Watermark is partnering with Historic Annapolis to offer Special Historic Hauntings.

Your spirited guide will lead you through the dark alleys, spooky side streets, and lesser-known haunted sites of the old and creaky town of Annapolis. Hear from real diary entries and newspaper articles of what frightened early 18th century folks. Also included is a stop inside historic Hogshead, where you will be immersed in the tales of those living in Annapolis during the Revolutionary War. Listen to stories of spirits that linger in the mist, and explore one of Annapolis’ best-known cemeteries. Special Historic Hauntings takes you back to a time of superstition and legend. And who knows, after a trip inside Hogshead, your own story may be added to the history of Annapolis!

Cost: Adults, $26; Children (3-11), $15; Infants (2 and under), Free. Historic Hauntings is presented in partnership with Watermark.

Friday, October 14 & Saturday, October 15

6:00-10:00 pm

Rising Sun Inn

1090 Generals Highway, Crownsville

The Rising Sun Inn, with a history spanning four centuries, has been home to many generations of families. Learn about the lives of some of those residents and learn about those residents who never left. This family-friendly ghost stories tour is suitable for visitors of all ages. Hear stories collected from first-hand accounts of ghostly encounters; tour areas of the Inn not regularly open to the public, and top the evening off with some cider and cookies. While this event promises to be family-friendly, the Inn will be dark with the exception of candlelight. Families with younger children may want to join us during the first hour take advantage of the fading daylight.

Purchasing tickets in advance is highly recommended! Admission is $15 for adults, $5.00 for children ages 3 – 8, and children under 3 are free. Register for Historic Candlelight Ghost Stories Tour.

Saturday, October 15

Tours offered at 11:00 am-12:30 pm & 2:00-3:30 pm

Meet at the Maryland Inn

16 Church Circle, near the porch on upper Main Street

Follow in the footsteps of the Marquis de Lafayette, America’s favorite fighting Frenchman.

Led by Glenn Campbell, who just recently retired as HA’s Senior Historian, this walking tour traces the itinerary of General Lafayette’s 1824 visit to Annapolis, with a few asides to sites he knew from his earlier trips to Maryland’s capital city in 1777, 1781, and 1784.

Please wear comfortable shoes and dress for the weather, as the tour is held rain or shine. The tour route is approximately 1.25 miles long and includes elevation changes and uneven walking surfaces. The tour will begin at the Maryland Inn on Main Street and end at the Maryland State House on State Circle.

Advance registration required; space is limited. Cost: $25 General Admission; $20 for HA Members and Docents. Register for Lafayette’s Annapolis Walking Tour.

Saturday, October 15

12:30-5:00 pm

Captain Avery Museum

1418 E West Shady Side, Shady Side

For 25 years, The Captain Avery Museum Oyster Festival has been a Community Celebration!

From 12:30 to 5 PM on Saturday, October 15, the grounds and museum of Captain Avery Museum will be turned into a waterside extravaganza. In the event of rain – the Oyster Festival will be held on Sunday, October 16.

For music, food and drink, raffle, and oysters, oysters, oysters! The headliner musical group is Eastman String Band! This year there will be four musical groups performing at two locations on the property. You can purchase tickets on the day of the festival or you can get virtual tickets online. $10 for Adults and $5 for children.

Saturday, October 15

4:30-6:30 pm

Hammond-Harwood House

19 Maryland Ave, Annapolis

Join Hammond-Harwood House for an evening of jazz in the museum gardens for an unforgettable celebration of George Gershwin. Experience some of the most beloved jazz standards of all time: “Someone to Watch Over Me,” “Embraceable You,” “I Got Rhythm,” and more! Elissa Edwards, soprano, is joined by the Miles O’Malley Trio for a heartwarming tribute to Gershwin and enduring highlights from the Great American Songbook.

Price: $65 | Members: $55. Rain Date, Sunday, October 16th. Buy tickets to Gershwin in the Garden.

Other Hammond-Harwood Events This Week:

St. Anne’s Cemetery Tour - Saturday, October 15

As our organization plans to revisit and revise our Interpretive Themes, we are planning a series of lunchtime seminars on the themes developed for recent Interpretive Plans in our area.

In the first seminar, Darian Beverungen, Cultural Resources Planner in the Planning and Zoning Department in Anne Arundel County, will present the County’s Interpretive Framework as presented in the document, “White Paper: Assessment of Anne Arundel County’s Existing Historic Preservation Program.”

The presentation will be virtual, via Zoom, on Tuesday, October 25, at Noon, and a Q-and-A session will follow the presentation. The link to the session will be sent out one week prior to the session; please send an e-mail to heritage_area@aacounty.org to receive the link. Please mark your calendar!

Please also save the date of Thursday, November 17th at Noon, for the second seminar in the series, by Karen Theimer Brown, President and CEO of Historic Annapolis, on the themes in the Master Interpretive Plan for the Annapolis City Dock Area. Thanks and we look forward to learning a great deal from these seminars!

Chesapeake Crossroads Heritage Area | 410-222-1805 | heritage_area@aacounty.org | chesapeakecrossroads.org